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The days of August are well underway, not dog days though due to the rain. The plants seem to love it and are thriving. I would like the chance to eat outside as the season is fleeting. It hasn’t been that sort of summer though. The chairs on the deck have either sizzled in the sun or been drenched in rain. I don’t have a vegetable garden ,just a planter of lettuce that has outgrown the space. But my lightning bug, bee and butterfly space is starting to take shape in spite of the door. Should we still be in this house next August, it hopefully will have taken root and be thriving. Bulbs will go in this fall, I will scatter the seeds from the daisies, daylilies and black-eyed Susans too. Gardens are always a work in progress, and I am natural gardener, so the results can be hit or miss. I am going for a wildflower, side of the road abundance like the one above. Time will tell.

The clouds, the reflections, the trees and summer colors are like a big breath of fresh air. A few years back there were osprey nest in the tall trees, but none this year. There are plenty of ponds like this for them to choose from, so maybe they rotate through the selection each year or so. This is the trail head and to me the best part, even with the mosquitoes. The weather has been so changeable this past month that outdoor time has been relegated to the edges of the day. The midday hours best spent lolling in the shade.

The month of July, having sped by, is nearly at its end. Mentally I have been stuck weeks back somewhere in mid June. As a result my progress has suffered on all fronts but the relaxation one. I think it is because the realtor came last month, took a look and gave us a short list of things to do. Not hearing to-do items I had expected, and having the list shorter than expected, had the effect of halting my mad rush of house activity. And yet, also halting my progress creatively. An odd side effect, as the time for it was freed up. I have been getting out on field trips and hikes, which had fallen by the wayside all spring. I guess I just needed July to pass me by in this manner, to give me a chance to recoup before I return to the task lists I now need tackling. To pause and enjoy the view as I look into August.

As Joe and I drove around back roads last weekend with no destination or timetable, it allowed me to stop at places we normally have to drive by. There was no rush, as we had no place to be. Being able to turn left or right on a whim took us beyond our usual route across New Hampshire and down unknown roads, to see new views.

There aren’t many buildings around this old depot so likely it was a stopping point for the farmers to load their produce to send off to the cities, to hotels and markets. Such a different time in so many ways. Even the name on the side seems to be a thing of the past. The rails are long gone, just a ghost of a track leading off along the right side and into the woods, onto another stop further up the line. Imagine the excitement when the sound of the whistle carried into town, items and people coming in from somewhere else. Now we seems less likely to be thrilled by something so commonplace, Amazon delivers so quickly there is no time for anticipation to build. Except for rail, transportation speeds people to wherever they need to go. I think the loss of that anticipation, that delayed gratification has not helped us very much. We are too quick to receive and discard, as the items don’t really fill the need we have.

Joe and I have been making an effort to get out and see new places and things in spite of the hot weather. It gives us new topics to discuss, new memories and helps Joe feel good about what he can do. It gives us an opening, not unlike the one in this fence line, that leads us to new places we can explore together. Over the many years of Joe’s career we had to pass on such activities as work often intervened. Now we can pick and choose where and when we want to go places, and only have my schedule to work around. In spite of how we got to this place, I am glad we are both here.